Thierry Henry was left seriously impressed by Ivan Perisic’s left-footed assist during Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Marseille in the Champions League on Tuesday night that the Arsenal legend compared him to Santi Cazorla, as he told CBS Sports on Paramount+ (01/11/22 at 10:10 pm).
The 33-year-old is naturally right-footed, but as Henry mentioned, just like ex-Arsenal favourite Cazorla, he can produce the goods with both feet.
During his days at the Emirates, Cazorla, who was perhaps one of the most underrated playmakers to have graced the Premier League, would take corners in his sleep with either foot.
Well, Perisic was showcasing that skill last night in the most pressured of situations in France.
Antonio Conte’s side needed to avoid defeat against Marseille to progress through to the knockout stages of the Champions League, but at the break, they found themselves 1-0 down.
It was an abject first-half performance from the north London club, but that’s when they started to turn up the heat and get into the faces of the Ligue 1 side.
The likes of Perisic started to stand up and be counted, and when they were awarded a free-kick on the left-channel of Tottenham’s attacking half, Perisic delivered an outstanding cross with his so-called weaker foot, which was headed in by Clement Lenglet.
That goal, alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s stoppage-time winner, proved to be the difference in Spurs now preparing for the knockout phases of the Champions League, rather than the Europa League, as Henry was left impressed.
“Yes, the Frenchman, going back to his country and scoring,” said Henry. “But the delivery of Ivan Perisic, please! Santi Cazorla, left foot and right foot. I have seen from him. (Ousmane) Dembele also, I have seen from him.
“But what a ball with his left foot. But I know you (Jamie Carragher) want to talk about the line of Marseille.”
Carragher responded: “We see it a lot in football now where we see teams defending wide free-kicks. We always say ‘oh, that line looks a little bit high’. But, in reality, it’s not. There is a reason why you push the line high, it’s because you don’t want to concede goals like that.
“You defend that deep, so close to your goal, it’s very difficult to defend.”
TOTTENHAM MARCHING ON…
Style of play? What style of play? At the end of the day, all that matters is that Tottenham are in the knockout stages of the Champions League and sitting third in the Premier League table.
Antonio Conte is a proven winner and he is slowly instilling that mentality into these Tottenham players.
On top of that, they are showcasing this grit to get over the line during difficult circumstances, something which they have previously been mocked for not being able to do.
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